AND IF I DONT CARE?
by Monty4721
Summary: It's been 3 years since Sasuke left the hidden leaf village, and Sakura is over it. She's a chunin, works at the hospital part-time, and has completely grown up. So when ANBU meet Sasuke at the gates, will sakura even care? What about team 7? SASUSAKU
1. Antidote for Irony

**AND IF I DONT CARE?**

Summary: It's been three years since Sasuke left the hidden leafe village, and Sakura is over it. She's a chunin, is working at the hospital part-time, and has completely grown up. So when the ANBU meet sasuke at the gates, where will that leave them? Will Sakura even care? What about team 7? SASUSAKU and a lil NARUHINA.

**Hey everybody! This is my first Naruto fanfiction (that im posting on ) so thank you for reading! this chapter is pretty short, but they'll get longer in the future! Title song is Antidote For Irony by. So they Say. It's a great song, so check it out and check out the band too! Enjoy! :)**

Disclaimer: Hey guess what?! I don't own any of these characters. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

Chapter 1: Antidote For Irony

Shizune knocked on the door to the Hokage's office gingerly, knowing exactly what was waiting for her on the other side of the door.

"Go away...." A voice groaned.

A small smile crept onto her face, and Shizune slowly pushed the door open. Tsunade was hunched over her desk with her hand on her forehead and her other hand signing paper after paper. Her hair was slightly messy and there were bags under her reddened eyes. TonTon, who had been asleep by the end of Tsunade's desk, raised his head to oink softly at Shizune as she walked over to them.

"Shizuuunneeeee....." She moaned as she looked up at her with tired eyes. there was still alot of paperwork for her to do, but she couldnt bring herself to find the energy to do it.

"You shouldn't have drank so much last night, you knew all this paperwork needed to get done by today." Shizune said as she placed a cup of coffee on the desk next to her.

"I know..." Tsunade sat up and took a deep swig of coffee. She smiled up at Shizune. "Thanks Shizune, your a lifesaver."

"Your welcome, now get back to work!" Shizune snapped. She shuffled through the papers she had clutched to her chest. "Oh, I received a message from Sakura at the hospital."

"Oh? What about?"

"She says, that as long as Haruo takes is easy for the next week, his left leg should be back to 100% soon. She also wants you to know that she's going to have to re-evaluate and redress the cuts on Norio's back, so she's going to be a little late in getting here this morning."

"Ok, that's good news. Send a message for her to take her time, there's no rush." Tsunade smiled. "That girl has come so far from when I first took her on as my apprentice. When we first started her training, she was so unsure of everything. Always needing my help, or a second opinion. but now, she's practically running things over there herself!"

"Yes, she has come a long way." Shizune said, "But you aren't going to get very far at all if you don't finish these papers!"

"Alright, alright!" Tsunade grimaced, "You're no fun anymore Shizune..."

Shizune cracked a smile and went over to the window and looked out on the village. It was a sunny mid-summer morning, clouds were scattered across the sky as the sun made it's way to the middle of the sky. People were bustling around, hanging laundry, shopping, talking and laughing. The village was very peaceful, as nothing bad had happened lately. It was all very calm.

Tsunade had just gotten back to work under the watchful eyes of Shizune, when there was a soft knock on the door.

"This had better be important!" Tsunade snapped, "Come in!"

Two ninja, both wearing the animal masks of the ANBU strode into the room and took a knee in front of the Hokage's desk. TonTon oinked softly and walked over to hide behind Shizune.

"Report?"

"Lady Hokage, we have just apprehended a missing-nin at the village's gate. He turned himself in, and has requested a meeting with you immediately." Said the closest masked ninja. Tsunade took another swig of her coffee and leaned back in her chair.

"Ehh, I have nothing better to do, send him in." She said, with an unpleasant look from Shizune.

Suddenly, two more ANBU walked into the room escorting a man wearing long black shorts and a v-neck white shirt with a short-sleeved dark gray jacket over it. His hands were tied behind his back, and a black bag had been placed over his head. The ANBU placed his kunai holster, backpack, and katana on Tsunade's desk. They pushed him forward onto his knees, before pulling the bag off of his head.

Immediately, Tsunade and Shizune's jaws dropped.

"Sasuke Uchiha was taken into custody at 10:27am this morning. He is in good health, and says that the only person he will talk to is you, the Hokage. Here is a file, containing the report that has been drawn up since his dissapearance three years ago." The Ninja dropped a white file-folder on tsunade's desk and took a step back. Sasuke kept his eyes on the floor, his face devoid of any emotion.

They just stood there, stunned, as the ANBU Ninja talked. Tsunade was the first to come around. "V-very good, you may leave us." She said to the ANBU. They hesitated, as if wondering weather they should leave the Hokage alone with the powerful Uchiha, but thought the better of challanging Tsunade's ability to handle herself and left in silence.

Tsunade, Shizune, and Sasuke sat in that same silence as Tsunade sifted through the file that one of the ANBU had left on her desk. Note even TonTon made a sound. Sasuke just comtinued to keep his black eyes on the floor, and Shizune kept glancing back and forth between him to Tsunade waiting for somebody to say something. Eventually, Tsunade put the file down, and sat back rubbing her eyes.

She glanced at the clock and sighed.

"Is it to early for a drink, Shizune?"

* * *

**Lol Tsunade, you alcoholic! XD**

**Anyways... Sorry it's pretty short, I promise that the next update will be longer. But what do you think so far? This is my first Naruto Fanfiction, so I'm hoping that this goes well, but we'll see! :) ill try to get the next update up in the next few days, but I have work... and a life, so ill do my best ok? Please Review, and thank so much for reading!!! :D**

**~Monty712**


	2. Headlock

**AND IF I DONT CARE?**

Happy Holidays everybody!!! :D (Late i know sorry! :) )

Sorry about this being so late! I've had some crazy shit happen to me since I put that first chapter up. I probably should have thought before I posted at the start of Homecoming week. And I've been scrambling, with the SAT's and visiting colleges, and work, and holiday stuff... and I do have a boyfriend you know....^^ But finally that's all taken care of (accept my BF of course! He's stickin' around! :D )! And how do I unwind?? Writing! :D

Anyways... I didn't expect to have such a response to my first chapter! Thank you so much everybody! Special thanks to my wonderful reviewers!!!! You guys rock!! :D

The song for today is Headlock by Imogen Heap.

Now on with chapter 2, hope you guys like!!

Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Naruto... :(

**Chapter2: Headlock**

At the end of a very long morning, Sakura found herself bent over the sink in the deserted Hospital bathroom. She let the cool water run for a moment before splashing herself in the face in an effort to get rid of the tiredness she was feeling.

She had been up for half the night with Ino. Really, she loved her roommates (Hinata, Ten Ten, and Ino) but there was a point in the night when she stopped caring about their boy problems.

The girls had become roommates 6 months ago when they had all become Chunin. If they were old enough to have regular B ranked missions, then they could live on their own. (A/N: Oh, and btw, they're all 18... and idc if that doesn't match up. MY STORY Bitches! ;P)

Sakura gazed at herself in the mirror, quickly running her fingers threw her short pink hair and taking a step back to examine the state of her clothes. She wore her usual getup, her signature red sleeveless zip-up and light gray medic skirt (her shippuuden clothes) and her black boots.

She was almost finished with retying her headband in her hair, when there was a soft knock on the door, and a nurse stuck her head inside.

"? There is a call for you at the desk." She said before closing the door behind her. Sakura ran her fingers threw her hair again and walked out of the bathroom, her quiet-time over.

Sakura walked down the hall a bit untill she came to the floor's nurse's station. The nurse smiled and held out the phone to her .

"Thanks--- This is Sakura Haruno!" She said into the phone in a cheery voice.

"Hello Ms. Haruno, I have a message for you from the Hokage." An older woman's voice drawled over the receiver.

"Yes?"

"Lady Hokage says that she got your message, and that you can take all the time you need. She's mostly doing paperwork today, so there's no need for you to rush over." Sakura rubbed the back of her neck. She had already finished with her morning report. What was she going to do now?

"Alright, thank you very much." she sighed.

"Your welcome." And the phone clicked off.

Sakura stared at the folder she had been carrying around with her. She had rushed after she sent Tsunade her own message to make sure that she wouldn't be too late. Now she was finished, and she wanted her to take her time?

She glanced up at the clock, it was only 11:00am.

Suddenly, there was shouting coming from the end of the hall.

"SAKURA!!!" The voice shouted. Sakura tensed, she knew exactly who THAT voice belonged too. And sure enough, she was tackled into a hug by a bright orange and black blur with blonde hair. "I'm back!!!"

Sakura was not pleased. Her fist came down hard on the top of his head.

"Naruto!! This is a hospital! People are trying to get some rest!"

Naruto rubbed the large bump on the top of his head. "Ouch! I haven't seen you in a month, and this is how you greet me?!"

Sakura broke into a smile and hugged him. "Ok, ok. I've missed you! Just be quiet!"

"I missed you too, Sakura! I want to tell you all about how I totally rocked those other ninja on my mission! What are you doing later? We need to catch up!!" he said in one quick breath. Sakura glanced back down at the completed file.

"Actually... I have some time right now that I need to kill."

"All-right!! Lets go grab some lunch then, I'm starving!!" He finished with a huge smile.

It wasn't untill then that Sakura realized just how ravenous she was. Her stomach growled a little in response.

"Sounds great, let me go grab a pager so the hospital can reach me and we can go."

"Yes!"

Sakura walked back over to the nurse's station and handed the nurse her report.

"Hey, im going to lunch. Keep this safe, ok?" She asked the nurse.

"Yes ." Sakura walked around the counter and grabbed a pager from the shelf on the wall behind the nurse.

"I'll be on pager 4 if anybody needs me. And I wont be gone very long." She smiled her thanks, clipped the pager to her waist and turned back to an overly excited Naruto.

"All set!" she said to him, and he gave her a broad grin.

"Ichi-raku here we come!!" He shouted as he grabbed her hand and took off down the hall, dragging her along the way.

* * *

An hour later, Sakura was sitting at Ichi-Raku's with Naruto, having just watched (in awe and slight disgust) as he downed 13 big bowls of beef ramen without breaking a sweat. Sakura, who had barely finished her own bowl of chicken ramen, shook her head slightly. He was ridiculous, but he was her best friend.

Once Team 7 broke up, they both took on their own apprenticeships. Naruto started his intense training with Jaryiah, and Sakura headed to the hospital and was trained to fight as a medic-nin with Tsunade. But even though their training took up most of their time (when they weren't on missions), they made a conscious effort to stay as close as any best friends. Sakura was glad for his friendship in the hard times after Sasuke left, and she was also happy that he had gotten over his crush on her.

Now all she had to do was get this idiot to notice Hinata!

"You should have seen it!" He finished, leaning back on his stool and taking a drink of his soda. "But once I finished up there, I wrote up the report and got back to the village. Those long missions suck."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. " Sakura said with a smile. But the truth was, she hadn't had a good mission in a few months. There had been so much to do at the hospital lately, that there wasn't any time for her to be sent off on missions.

"All done already, Naruto? How was it?" The shop owner said with a smile as he took their bowls away.

Naruto returned with a broad grin, "Awesome as ever, Old Man! Your ramen is the best in the world!"

Sakura watched as they both laughed, with a smile. A cool, foreboding breeze flowed through the ramen shop rustling her hair, and Sakura felt a sudden nagging urge to look outside. She stood up, and pushed the curtain aside. People walked by on there way to and from shops, and a few children ran by playing. But something seemed strange to Sakura, nothing sinister, just... off. Where did that wind come from on such still day?

"Sakura?" Naruto stared at her with a concerned look on his face. "You ok?"

She turned back to him and smiled reassuringly. "Yeah I'm fine, just got the chills for some reason!"

She glanced back outside just in time to see a black bird take off from it's perch on the roof of the building across the way. She watched as it rose up over the village, screeching it's ominous call. Then with a shake of her head, she wrote it off, she was being stupid. She went to sit back down when...

"SAKURA!!!"

She and Naruto looked at each other before bolting outside to find Might Guy freaking out with an unconscious Rock Lee on his back running at full speed towards the ramen shop. He came to stop with his tear-streaked face right up in Sakura's, quickly rushing into an explanation.

"I THOUGH THAT WAS YOUR YOUTHFUL PINK HAIR I SAW!! LEE HAS COLLAPSED!!" He shouted, just inches from Sakura's face.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Naruto was walking to the Hokage's office. After he, Guy-sensei, and Sakura had gotten Lee to the hospital and into a room, Sakura threw them out. Insisting that he was exhausted and he just needed some rest. Guy-sensei insisted on waiting outside the room, and so Naruto headed off to see Grandma Tsunade to drop off his report. As he neared her office, he noticed more people than usual milling around her door.

"What's going on here? Granny get a bad haircut or something?" He mumbled as he opened the door to the Hokage's office, not bothering to knock. Tsunade stood quickly behind her desk, while Shizune stood holding Ton Ton next to her, Kakashi Hatake leaned against the window.

"Granny, I'm back!!" He said cheerfully as he strolled into the office. "And look, i even got my report done!" He noticed the others as he approached the Hokage's desk. "Hey! Shizune! Kakashi-Sensei! I would have been here sooner, but---" He stopped short, having finally met eyes with the fourth person standing in front of Tsunade's desk. Naruto's mission papers hit the floor.

Sasuke turned to face him slowly.

"Naruto."

Naruto took a step back, not believing his eyes.

Sasuke! His best friend, the one he fought so hard to find and bring back to the village was right here, in front of him! Unbelievable!

Sasuke, the one who left the village to join Orochimaru and get his revenge.... Who he had fought and who had almost killed him only so he could get stronger... The same Sasuke who left Sakura unconscious on a bench in the middle of the night, heart broken, after she had failed to make him stay in the village...

The whiskers on Naruto's face broadened, and his eyes went red. He lunged forward and grabbed the front of Sasuke's shirt.

"SASUKE!!" He shouted as his fist slammed into the side of his face.

Sasuke took the punch without resistance, and the force of it threw him into the wall.

"Naruto!! Calm down!!" Tsunade shouted as Naruto stepped forward towards Sasuke, who sat up against the wall. Naruto walked forward, and stopped just in front of Sasuke who just looked back at him, prepared for whatever beating Naruto would give him.

He deserved it. For leaving the village, and betraying the team and his friends, and he knew it too. Sasuke knew he didn't deserve any of their forgiveness.

For a moment the room tensed up and the air seemed like it had been sucked out.

Naruto looked at Sasuke with the red eyes of the Nine Tailed Fox and clenched fists. Sasuke didn't take his eyes away from Naruto's as his body glowed bright orange with Chakra. Then, after a very long and tense minute, Naruto took a deep breath and a step back. His eyes returned to their usual bright blue, and the whiskers on his face went back to normal too as he calmed himself. He flexed his fingers and a small smirk crept onto his face.

Naruto bent down and held out his hand to Sasuke.

"You bastard...." Sasuke smirked too and took his hand. Naruto pulled him to his feet. "Welcome back."

"It's good to be back." Sasuke said as he brushed himself off.

* * *

Well.... What can i say? Sorry it late!

... Ok THATS an understatement, i know... Im sorry. But im done apologizing. :)

But what did you guys think?? I hope you liked it. I was going to make it longer, but i figured you guys had waited long enough! I kind of have some ideas for my next chapter, so it should be too long, hopefully soon. Once i finish getting my college apps in i should have a little more time... I BLAME FACEBOOK! :)

Well, if ur mad at me for taking so long (and i dont blame u i'd be pissed too lol), then feel free not to review if you dont want. But if you have any suggestions, or were really happy with this chapie, then feel free! I'd love to hear what u think!!! :D

Thanks guys!! Cya soon! (Hopefully ;D)


	3. Up Against The Wall

**AND IF I DON'T CARE?**

**Hello! **

**Well... I'm late again! Noticing a pattern yet? Yeah... So do my teachers!^^; lol jk... kinda.**

**Sorry, I'm trying to get better. But I keep thinking that I want to take a story one way... then a different way... Then I wake up the next day with a completely different idea! lol ....Then the next day there's 2 feet of snow on the ground (and if you live in the north-east USA you KNOW what I'm talking about...). but yeah, I'm snowed in... and tonight we're getting another foot so I'm not going anywhere! :D **

**Alrighty, the song today is ****Up Against the Wall ****by. Boys Like Girls. **

**Love it, been listening to a lot of old Cds lately and this is the song that I seemed to get the best ideas for this chapter while listening to it so... Yeah it doesn't have to make sense. :)**

**Ok (cracks knuckles), let's do this.**

**CHAPTER 3: UP AGAINST THE WALL**

The afternoon's sunlight came through the window of the single occupant hospital room as Sakura walked in. The room was quiet accept from the sounds of birds coming from the open window, the monitors having been shut off once Lee woke up. It was almost 3 o'clock, and Sakura had just finished her medical report and was checking in on her latest patient. Lee sat up while Sakura consulted the clipboard at the end of his bed.

"Oh, Sakura. As beautiful as ever, I see." He said wincing as he smiled up at her.

"It's nice to see you too, Lee. Are you in any pain?" She said with a little giggle.

"It is nothing. Just a little sore from my training with Guy-sensei I think... Although I am not sure how I wound up in here this time." Confusion made it's way onto his face and he scratched his head as he tried to remember. Sakura sat down on the end of his bed with a sigh.

"Guy brought you to me after you collapsed during your training. " She said.

Lee blinked at her. "I... Collapsed?"

Sakura nodded.

"Yes, but don't worry. We ran some little tests and made sure that it was exhaustion that made you pass out."

Lee let out a huge sigh of relief. "Oh! I'm glad that that is all it is!"

"'That's all it is'? Lee, putting your body under as much stress with no rest to the point where you have to be carried in here is not something that's ok." She said seriously, flicking through the chart in her hands. "And according to your chart, you've been in here 3 times in the past 4 months."

Lee looked down at his hands and frowned.

"Lee, I don't mean to nag, I'm just worried about my friend here." She said in a friendly tone. Lee smiled brightly at her.

"Oh my dearest Sakura!!! Your kind words of concern are most touching!!! Does this... can this mean that you have finally accepted! That you finally wish to be my girlfriend?!?!" he exclaimed, tears in his eyes. Sakura sweat-dropped.

"Not a chance."

Lee stopped short, tears streaming. "Oh Gai-sensei I have failed!! But never fear, my beautiful Sakura!! To prove my love for you, I shall do 5000 laps around the village carrying a boulder the size of--"

"Knock it off Lee!!! Or the only thing that you'll be allowed to do is rest for the next month! No missions. No training. Just pure, undisturbed, bed rest." She yelled, causing him to freeze right in the middle of his speech and sit back on his pillows, silent.

"That's better. but you have to realize that rest is better for you. It's like when you get an injury; You have to stop and take the time to heal. Otherwise you wont be able to make a full recovery." She said softer now that they were back on topic.

Lee's frowned slightly as he picked at a stitch in the bedding and tried to pick his words carefully.

"Is that what you did, Sakura?"

Sakura looked up at him questioningly. "Did when?"

"After... After Sasuke left the village." He said slowly, trying not to set her off.

They sat in silence for a moment while they both gathered their thoughts. Sasuke. Now there was someone that Sakura hadn't talked about in a while. Her friends made it a point of not talking about him around her and she was grateful for that. And why is was true that she had had a hard time after he left, she liked to think that she had come full circle and had moved on since then. Sakura smiled at Lee.

"I think... Yes. In a way that's exactly what I did. But we aren't talking about me, are we?" She stood up and flick through the chart again. "I want you to stay here for the next two nights and take some time and rest, ok?"

Lee's jaw dropped at the thought, but he recovered quickly. "Can I-"

"No training!" Sakura cut him off and his face dropped. She chuckled. "Doctor's orders! Bye Lee!" She waved as she stepped out of the room, sliding the door shut behind her.

Sakura stood in the hall for a moment before shaking her head. _**That guy... **_She smiled, and moved on to the nurse's station where her completed report sat waiting for her. _**I had better get this is the Hokage, I'm already later than I said I'd be. **_She thought as she made her way down the hall and into the locker room to collect her things.

* * *

Back in her office, Tsunade sneezed.

For the past 2 hours Kakashi sat on the windowsill, Shizune stood by the hokage's desk, and Naruto and Sasuke sat in chairs across from Tsunade. They had been questioning Sasuke Uchiha for any information he might had regarding Orochimaru and the Akatsuki.

But, as it turns out, even considering his position among them, his knowledge was still rather limited among the Sound and he didn't exactly go around snooping, choosing rather to gain strength without asking too many questions. Once he gained the level of power he needed, he left to kill his brother, Itachi, succeeding after a long and grueling battle. Then with much deliberation, he decided to return to the village where he knew his knowledge would be of some use. While this frustrated Tsunade, she was pleased to know that without him, the Sound seemed to be loosing a key player and it was true that what little knowledge he did have was very important.

Everyone else in the room stayed quiet for the most part maybe asking a small question here or there, Shizune taking note of everything Sasuke said. Tsunade stretched, stood up, and walked over to the window looking out over the village.

"Well, I guess that's the end of my questions for you. So all that leaves is what to do with you now..." She sighed, weighing her options. Sasuke continued to watch her as she gazed out at the village.

It was a moment before anyone spoke, even Naruto chose to stay out of it, eager to know what would happen next. Finally, Tsunade took a deep breath and let him have it.

"While I have half a mind to throw you into jail after deserting our village and joining our greatest enemy... You did return quietly and gave us some valuable information. And while I don't condone your killing Itachi Uchiha, it wasn't like you've been hiding your intentions since the beginning of your ninja training... So here is what I am going to do. I am assigning you back to Squad 7, but as you are all on the same level now, you should know that that squad has been renamed as Team Kakashi." She turned around received a nod of agreement from Kakashi and a smile from Naruto.

Sasuke gave her his signature "Hn" and she continued.

"However, that does not mean that you are by any means forgiven. It's going to take some time for you to earn back some trust in this village. Therefore, you will not be allowed to leave the village under any circumstances until I say otherwise. You are not to train without a squad member, or fellow Jounin present. And yes, I believe that you have reached that level by now... You will be monitored at all times, so don't try anything you got that?" She said standing in front of him now.

"Hn." Sasuke said, looking off to the side. Tsunade bent towards him and got in his face.

"_Excuse me? _I'm not going to give you another chance here! I asked if you got that?!" She yelled. Sasuke looked at her and the two squared off for a moment.

"Yes, Ma'am." He said defiantly. Naruto snickered, and Tsunade straightened up and looked over at him.

"Naruto.. Weren't you, Neji, and Shikamaru looking for another roommate?" She said slyly, and Sasuke's face paled. Naruto squinted at her, confused.

"Yeah, why?"

Sasuke sat forward, "No way..."

"Oh yes way, Sasuke! I just found you your new roommate, Naruto." Tsunade said with a huge grin. Sasuke opened his mouth to protest when there was a knock on the door. Kakashi stood up with a quiet 'oh boy...' and Shizune stopped writing. Tsunade called out, "Come in!", and Naruto twisted around in his seat to see who it was. Sasuke stayed still.

The room fell silent as the door creaked open.

"My lady? Sorry I'm so late, but some things came up at the hospital..." Sakura said as she walked in the room.

"Sakura..." Naruto said as he and Sasuke stood up to face her. She looked up at him.

"Oh hey Naruto, I didn't expect-" Then the room seemed to tilt as she took the sight of him in.

First the shoes, the black shorts, the white shirt with the Uchiha symbol in the middle and dark-gray jacket. Then the hands, one in his pocket, and one extended slightly towards her. The same black hair with the long bangs in the front and spikes sticking out the back. The same pale pink lips she'd imagined kissing a thousand times. His pale white skin, and then finally his eyes, onyx on her emerald green.

If felt like someone had punched her in the gut. She blinked, to try to clear the illusion from her vision, but it wouldn't go away. Sasuke took a step in her direction.

"Sakura." He said slowly just louder than a whisper, as if testing it's sound.

"Sasuke..." She said taking a step forward towards him. Then she stopped, and took a breath. The moment passed and she stepped around him to Tsunade's desk. Everybody watched as she put the report on her desk, except for Sasuke who stay where he was, looking at the ground without moving.

"Here's my report, sorry again that it's so late. I guess I'll see you tomorrow, my lady, I can see your really busy." She smiled at Tsunade, who said nothing. As she walked back towards the door, Sakura's eyes fell on Kakashi standing by the window watching her.

"Oh, your here too, Kakashi-Sensei? It's nice to see you. I'd love to stay, but I have things I have to do... Bye!" She said as she walk out of the door, not looking at Sasuke again and closing the door behind her. Naruto called after her.

"Sakura! Wait!" But by the time he opened the door to chase after her, she was nowhere to be found. "Damn!" He said as he ran out the door after her.

The room stayed quiet for a few moments, and then Tsunade finally spoke.

"...Like I said. It's going to take some time, before you start earning back some trust. You might as well start with your teammates."

Sasuke stood there, gathering his thoughts on that statement, and ran out the door after Naruto.

* * *

**Ok! So what do you think?? Did Sakura act how you thought she would?? Let me know with a review!! :D**

**I have a lot of ideas for the next chapter so it should come out fairly soon I hope. As I said... I'm still snowed in here! :D So please, leave a review and let me know what you think! **

**Love ya!!**

**Monty712**

ohh... yeahh... and i dont own Naruto... :/


	4. Stand In The Rain

**Chapter 4 is here!!!! ... yay? Heheh... Sorry I'm late again. ^^;**

**I'm really happy about the feedback that I've been getting from the last chapter, so I really hope that you guys continue to read and review! That would be awesome!**

**Today's song is Stand In The Rain by. SuperChic[k] anddd.... it's pretty amazing. ~Just sayin. :D**

**Enjoy!**

**Monty712**

**p.s. I don't own Naruto... blahblah.**

**CHAPTER 4: STAND IN THE RAIN**

Naruto ran down the hallways of the Hokage's building hoping to catch Sakura, but at the same time knowing that it wouldn't happen. Sakura was very resourceful and Naruto knew that she probably wanted to be alone right now. But still... As her best friend, he had to know that she was ok. She had come so far since Sasuke left and getting over him had not been easy for her. The blonde knew that seeing Sasuke again after all that time and heartache, without warning, must be so hard on her.

"_Naruto... Please just bring Sasuke back to me!"_

Naruto clenched his teeth and ran faster. To think that Sasuke could just walk back into the village after all they had gone threw trying to get him back, was making his blood boil. He ran through the lobby and bolted out of the doors. The Sun was about an hour from setting behind the Hokage's faces, and people were still walking around, chatting, going to dinner, doing some late shopping. Naruto stopped and glanced around at the surrounding people, search for a familiar streak of pink hair. He groaned in frustration, running a hair trough his messy blonde hair when he saw nothing.

"Naruto!" Came a voice from behind him and he turned around to face Sasuke who jogged up to him.

"What?!" Naruto yelled back at him. Sasuke stopped.

"I'm coming with you to look for her." He said, hands in his pockets.

"Don't bother." Naruto scoffed and continued walking, then he stopped. Naruto clenched his fists, his voice shaking as he spoke. "Do you have any idea what she went through when you left? What any of us went through!?" He turned around and looked Sasuke in the face. "She _waited_ for you! And when I couldn't bring you back... When you didn't come back... It almost broke her." he said, his whole body shaking now. "She was just starting to move on, finally, and now you just waltz in here like everything can go back to they way it was. Can you imagine what that must be like for her?! I can't."

Sasuke looked at him in the face, "I am not going to defend my reasons for the things that I've done. Because I've told you all my motives from the beginning. But now that I'm back, I know that I need to make amends. I'm not expecting things to go back to the way that they were, I just want the chance to make up for what I've done." He said with a slight edge in his voice, frustrated.

They stood there for a moment, sizing up each other's arguments, before Naruto spoke first.

"Fine." He said turning back in the direction he was walking. "But only because you are my best friend. But just so you know... I'm Sakura's best friend too, and it's up to you to fix things with her." He called over his shoulder as he started to walk again.

Sasuke "Hn"-ed, and together they took off along the roofs to look for Sakura.

* * *

Since leaving the Hokage's office, Sakura hadn't stopped running until she was absolutely positive that she wasn't being followed. She knew that Naruto would mean well, but she didn't want to be around people right now. She needed to take some time to sort out her thoughts.

It was almost sundown, so she decided that she would take a seat on a nearby bench before taking the long way home. She wasn't sure if she could handle seeing her roommates just yet as she wasn't sure who knew that _he _was back at this point. She plopped down on the stone bench and put her head in her hands. She took a few deep breaths, knowing that she needed to calm down, but couldn't stop shaking.

He was back.

Sasuke was back in the Leaf Village.

Sakura's mind was moving a million miles a second. Is he here to stay? What about Itachi? Did he find him? How did he escape from Orochimaru? When did he get so tall? How different was he? What is Tsunade going to do? What does Naruto think? And above all... Why did he say my name... like that?

She rested her cheek on the cool stone of the bench's armrest and tried to settle down. A cool, evening breeze started up as the sun began to set, and the chill of the summer night crept over her. The shaking stopped, and she took a look around at where her flight had taken her. Her heart almost stopped.

Ever since the day that Sasuke had left, Sakura had taken every measure possible to avoid coming down this path. The trees blew softly in the breeze, dropping a few loose leaves onto the cobblestone.

This was the last place she had seen him, where she had begged him to stay, and the place where he had left her.

Sakura immediately jumped up as if the bench she was sitting on had burned her. It was _that_ bench.

"_Don't leave me!!"_

"_Sakura... Thank you, for everything..."_

She shook her head to clear away the memories of her last visit to this place but they wouldn't go away, she could almost hear it as her throat got tighter and her eyes began to sting. But she wasn't going to let herself cry.

"I can't do this." She said to herself before bolting away, towards home.

* * *

The sun had just set when Naruto and Sasuke reached the Academy. They had searched everywhere. No one was home at her house, people on the streets hadn't seen her (although Sasuke had gotten some funny looks), the Ramen shop was empty (although Naruto was very much obliged to fix THAT.. Sasuke had to drag him away after a quick hello to the owner who remembered him), she wasn't at the training grounds...

They stopped for a minute by the old swing that was still hanging in the schoolyard. Naruto was beginning to think that they weren't going to find her tonight. If she had wanted to be found, they would have seen her an hour ago. Sasuke silently agreed. He walked over and stared up at the building where he had spent so much time as a young ninja. It looked about the same as he had always remembered it.

"I see that things around here really haven't changed." Naruto walked up beside him.

"Yeah, it's pretty much the same as it was the way we graduated. Iruka-sensei still teaches there too. I haven't seen him in a while though, the genin are set to take the chunin exams soon."

"Hn." Sasuke said, remembering their own chunin exams. Naruto seemed to be thinking along the same path, but he didn't want to bring it up. They still needed to find Sakura.

"Lets head back to the house. Neji and Shikamaru should be back by now, and we need to get you a room." Naruto said turning away from the building and starting to walk again. "And we can give Sakura's house a call too when we get there. Maybe she went home."

Sasuke turned and together they walked back to the guy's house. Naruto blathered on about training and missions and a bunch of other things that Sasuke wasn't very interested in at the moment. He couldn't stop thinking about how much his teammate had changed since they had last seen each other. Gone was the annoying little punk who drove him crazy whenever he opened his mouth, and, well maybe he was still loud and obnoxious, but he was defiantly more mature.

Sasuke knew that he himself had changed a lot over the past few years. Was it in a good way or a bad way? What about the others? Who else had changed?

The guy's house was only a block or two away from the Academy, so Naruto and Sasuke got there in no time at all. It was fairly large, four bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, but still pretty standard for ninja housing. They walked up the front steps and walked into a small front hallway.

Directly in front of them was a staircase leading to the bedrooms upstairs, but through a large doorway on the left was the living room and through another doorway was a large kitchen. The house was fairly plain as far as decorations go, none of them having any time or inclination to do anything special with the place. In the living room was a pair of matching red loveseats and a decent entertainment system complete with surround-sound and a DVD player. The place was pretty clean, Sasuke had a feeling that Neji had something to do with that, but there was still a few random articles of clothing tossed around the room with the occasional empty instant ramen cup. On the couches, Neji was reading a letter and Shikamaru was sprawled out.

"Hey guys! Look who it is." Naruto said with a wide grin. Neji got up and walked over to them.

"A messenger dropped this off a little while ago." He said, indicating the letter in his hand. "It's from the Hokage, explaining everything. They also dropped off your things, Sasuke, they are already in your room."

"Thanks." Sasuke said to Neji as he passed the letter to Naruto, who read it over. Neji looked at Sasuke with an unsure look on his face.

"It's uhm... Good, to have you back Sasuke." They shook hands, and Neji headed past them and up the stairs. Naruto finished reading the letter and dropped it on the coffee table. Shikamaru sat up and gave Sasuke an indifferent look.

"Well, your room is upstairs, last on the right." He said, grabbing the remote and flicking on the TV. "You should go check it out, find out what you need."

Sasuke nodded, and turned to follow Neji up the stairs. He had to admit that it was kind of awkward to be around these guys after all this time, but Tsunade made it clear to him that he had no other choice, so he figured that he needed to adjust.

Once Sasuke had gone, a light went off in Naruto's head, and he bolted to the adjoining kitchen.

The kitchen was pretty big, with an island in the middle with bar stools around it. The cabinets were made of some sort of dark wood, and the counter tops were blue. It was a good look, even if it was a little dirty. Naruto almost tripped over a barstool as he made a mad-dash for the cordless telephone mounted on the wall by the refrigerator.

Naruto dialed some numbers and put the phone to his ear. "Sakura... Please be home..."

* * *

Ino was sitting on her bed with a bottle of her favorite purple nail polish when the phone next too her rang, startling her into messing up her last toe.

"Damn it!!" She cursed as she quickly put down the polish and snatched up the phone.

"_**Hello**_?!" She asked agitated as she tried to save the toe.

"_Hello?? Ino?!" _Naruto's voice came hurriedly over the phone.

Ino rolled her eyes, "What do you want Naruto?" Downstairs, she heard the front door open and close.

"_Is Sakura there??"_

"Uhmm yeah, I think she just got in. Why did you want to talk to her?"

Over the phone, Naruto let out a sigh of relief. At least they knew where she was now.

"_Ok good. Ino can you do me a favor?" _Ino put down the remover and quickly repainted the toe.

"Uhh... What's up? Did you want to talk to her?"

"_Oh.. No that's ok. Can you just... Go downstairs and make sure she's ok?" _he asked tentatively. Ino put the polish down, frustrated again.

"Did you just call so I can go apologize for you for pissing off Sakura again?! Because if you think that I--"

"_No! It's not like that!"_

"Then what?"

Naruto paused, not exactly sure what he should tell her. But he decided that she would know soon enough anyway, everyone would.

"_It's Sasuke... He's back in the village."_

**click.**

* * *

Sasuke reached the end of the hall and opened the door to what would be his safe-haven for the time being. there wasn't much in it - a full-sized bed in one corner by the window, a dresser, a small desk on the opposite wall, and a mirror that sat on the ground facing the wall waiting to be hung. Other than that, the room was bare, the walls white and plain.

It reminded him of the time he spent in his room while training under Orochimaru. When all he'd do was train, then go back to his room keeping away from the others where he could sleep with one eye open... But he'd have to put that all behind him now, besides, he had a window, a big difference from his previous cells.

He walked over to the window by the bed an opened it allowing a fresh breeze to fill the musty room. Then he picked up the mirror and hung it on the available stud next to the dresser and took a look at himself. he had changed a lot since leaving the village. He was taller, leaner, stronger, and had a few more scars inside and out. He had ditched his old clothes when they stopped fitting, and the clothes he wore while with Orochimaru's crew when he left. But essentially, he liked to think that he was the same person. He still went by Sasuke Uchiha, his hair still came down in the front and stuck out in the back... but he knew that he was different now, and so did everyone else. Now the only question remained: what he would do now?

Sasuke groaned inwardly and collapsed down on the bed. He had no idea what coming back to the leaf was supposed to do for him... Even Sakura didn't want anything to do with him. A pang of sadness and something... he wasn't quite sure of filled Sasuke's heart when he thought of the look on Sakura's face right before she dismissed him completely. Sasuke shook his head to rid himself of the memory.

'_**Where did that come from?' **_he thought, but he dismissed it as he lay back on his pillows. Up until then he hadn't realized how tired he was but now that he thought about it, he hadn't had a good night's sleep since he left the village.

But now that his body sunk into the softest bed he'd slept on in a few years, Sasuke Uchiha finally allowed himself to slip into a comfortable, safe sleep.

* * *

After hanging up on Naruto, Ino dropped what she was doing and ran (as fast as you can run with wet toenails) down the stairs. She rounded the corner and found Sakura in their living room sitting on the couch with her eyes shut, hugging her knees.

"Sakura...?" She said sympathetically, but then corrected herself. "Oh hey girl! I thought I heard you come in." Ino figured that it's be better if she played it off like she didn't know, she'd wait for Sakura to tell her herself. She walked over and plopped down on the couch next to her best friend who still hadn't moved, and picked up the remote.

As the TV clicked on and Ino started flicking through channels, Sakura slowly opened her eyes. Ino pretended not to notice how watery Sakura's eyes were.

"So how was work at the Hospital? See anything cool?" Ino said, acting like she was trying to find the perfect show with an occasional 'No..' and 'ooooh!..no...'

Sakura took and deep breath, and tried to steady her voice when she said, "I-It was...Fine. Naruto met me for l-lunch... And Lee came in."

Ino stopped at some random movie channel that was at commercial, and looked over at Sakura.

"Lee? What was he there for?"

"He collapsed from exhaustion during training.." Ino laughed.

"Serves him right! All that work he does..." She turned to Sakura with a smile that quickly turned into a frown as Sakura continued to stare blankly at the TV. They sat in silence for a few moments, watching a small infomercial on dust mops. Sakura finally couldn't take it anymore, a tear finally escaped despite her best efforts. Ino watched as it rolled down her cheek.

"Sakura?" She said as she scooted closer to her. "What--?"

"You don't have to pretend, Ino. I'm sure s-someone has already told you." Sakura snapped at her as another tear fell. Sakura wiped it away indignantly.

"Sakura, I don't... I mean I--" Ino stammered as she tried to figure out what to say. Sakura frowned and more tears started to fall.

"No... I'm s-sorry.. I just.. I don't know.. I..." Sakura leaned forward and started crying into her hands. She didn't know if she was relieved, sad, angry, or happy that Sasuke was back. All she knew was that she had tried so hard not to feel anything for him, and now here he was, forcing those feelings to come back in shambles. They sat on the couch for a minute, Sakura crying and Ino rubbing her back, then Ino put a comforting arm around her. Sakura leaned her head on her shoulder and cried while Ino tried to calm her.

"Shhhh..... It's ok..." Ino said while she let her friend take some time. A little while later, Sakura's sobs reduced to whimpers.

"T-Thanks Ino..." She said as she rubbed at her eyes. Ino smiled and shook her head.

"No problem." Sakura gave her a half smile.

"I just... I don't know what to do now that he's back, you know?" She sniffed. "I spent so much time getting over the fact that he left. And I tried so hard to convince myself not to love him anymore... And now..." She took a deep breath and continued, "I just don't know what to think. But... I put myself on the line, I told him how I felt and he just left... With nothing but a _'Thank you_'." Sakura let a few more tears out and Ino gave her a big hug, feeling so sad for her friend.

"I'm sorry, Sakura, I know this must be so hard for you. But..." She hesitated. "I don't know if you want to hear this right now but, time changes people, you know?"

Sakura sat up and looked at her. "Yeah, so?"

Ino pulled her feet up under her, and started talking with her hands. "Well for example, look at how much you've changed in just the past few years. You're a jounin, you have new techniques, you're taller, smarter, you dress better..." Sakura smiled a thanks to Ino for the complements. "You've changed so much... And.. We don't even know what he's been up to since he left. he could be a completely different person now? Who knows? I'm just saying, maybe you should give it a few days, and see how he's changed. Maybe it's for the better, and maybe it's not. but you wont know until you talk to him."

Sakura looked at her hands and sniffed. "I don't know..."

"I know it's hard, really hard. But you're gonna have to talk to him at some point, probably soon too."

Sakura looked up at her. "Why do you say that?"

Ino focused on a stubborn piece of loose hair for a minute before answering.

"You have to think about it. Team Kakashi is the only team with 3 members, and now with Sasuke, a Jounin level ninja, back, that makes your old team complete again." She said adjusting her barrette. Sakura's eyes went wide with realization and her hand flew to her mouth.

"I hadn't even thought about that!!" Sakura started to panic.

"Don't worry about it." Ino said calmly, giving up on her hair. "It's like i said: Time changes people. It's up to you to decide whether or not his changes are worth you caring about. Just give it some time." Sakura thought about it for a minute.

"You're right, thanks Ino." She smiled, and Ino grinned back at her.

"Of course I am!" They both laughed and hugged. At that moment they heard the kitchen door open and close and the sound of their other two roommates getting home.

"Hello?! INNOOOO!!!! SAAKURAA??" They heard Tenten yell.

"We're in here!!" Ino called back, as Sakura tried to hide the fact that she had been crying. Tenten and Hinata walked in. Tenten sat down on Sakura's other side and Hinata sat on the loveseat.

"Ok Sakura... I don't want to freak you out... But... We saw Naruto in town today and... Well, Hinata saw him too. So we're pretty sure that it was... Sasuke Uchiha."

* * *

**Okokok!! It's late! but I made this one kind of longer so I hope that sort of makes up for it! :/ I'll try to get it up faster next time but no promises..! Thanks so much for all the comments and feedback guys!! I really do love it! So keep an eye out for the next chapter and do the same if you could! (I'd love it)**

**Anyway in this chapter I kind of tried to channel how my girl friends and I would handle a situation like that if a guy we liked left and came back. So that explains the Sakura-Ino friendship scene a little. I spend a lot of time helping and giving advice to my best friend who she needs me, so I could kind of relate to Ino here... except im not THAT girly lol! (I do have some friends like that... ohdearlordy). **

**Guys are kind of harder and im not sure if Sasuke is acting the way I want him too.... What do you guys think of him? **

**Leave me a review letting me know what you think!! or any ideas you have! I love hearing them! :) **

**ily! **

**Monty712**

***declaimer* if I owned Naruto this would be a much better story wouldn't it!? ^^; FML**


	5. This Is The Countdown

**And If I Don't Care?**

Ok people, sorry for the extremely long wait! That wasn't fair to you :/:/ But in case you were wondering I was: Graduating high school!, final exams, attending grad parties, throwing my own grad party, working, having a boyfriend, fighting with my best friend, going to beach week... it's been a very crazy time! :D Love it~:) But today's song is, This Is The Countdown by. MAE and it doesn't really connect to the story very well... but I like this song :) lol

I hope you enjoy this chap!

**IMPORTANT NOTE: I made a few changes to this story just to let ya'll know. Team 7 and most of the others are CHUNIN not Jonin. I said in chap.1 that Tsunade made Sasuke a Jonin, but I lied, he's a Chunin. :)**

**And the other change is that Tsunade said that he WASN'T allowed to train until she said so. I think I said that he could with others, just not alone but I cant remember. But yeah, that's it :)**

**Enjoy! :)**

Chapter 5: This is the Countdown

For the next few days, the ninja of the leaf (or more specifically, team 7) kept a low profile.

After the episode in the Hokage's office, Sakura had taken to the hospital effectively drowning herself in charts and the complicated medical problems of her peers.

Naruto was spending his time with Sasuke (who had no choice), showing him all the changes in the village, visiting Ichi Raku's Ramen (everyday), and they even took a quick trip back to Sasuke's old apartment so he could grab some stuff. But when he wasn't with Sasuke, Naruto was out training with the others.

Sasuke spent his free time when Naruto was training around their house brooding. He was forbidden by Tsunade to go anywhere but the house alone and she still hadn't given him the green light to start training with the others. Sasuke was getting more frustrated by the day, it had almost been a week since he last trained.

* * *

It was 10:00am and Sasuke lay on his bed listening to the sound of his 3 roommates leave for yet another day of training and missions. He had been up since 9 when over breakfast Naruto decided to let him know of their plans for the day.

He was only half listening as Naruto blathered on about Neji's mission and Shikamaru's training with his Gennins...

"... But you could come and watch ME train if you want..." Naruto grinned. Sasuke stared at him. Shikamaru gave a small cough that sounded more like a stifled laugh to Sasuke's ears.

"What?"

"I was just saying, even though you can't train yet, you could come _watch me _train if you want. My Rasengan has gotten so awesome! I'm sure you could even learn someth-"

"I _don't_ think so." Sasuke cut him off and stood quickly, tossing his mostly eaten cereal down the sink and going back up to his room, slamming the door behind him.

An hour later the door shut behind Naruto as he left Sasuke in the house alone. But not five minutes of undisturbed silence later, there was a knock at the door.

"Loser..." Sasuke muttered as he walked down the stairs to find out what it was that Naruto left behind. But when he reached the door, he was met with a much different chakra.

"Yo. Long time to talk, Sasuke." Kakashi said as he leaned against the open door frame. His exposed eye crinkled as he smiled under the mask. "You being a good boy?"

Sasuke eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest. "What do you want, Kakashi?"

Kakashi smirked under the mask. "You see, there's where your wrong, Sasuke. I'm not here for ME. I'm here for Tsunade, who currently owns your every move. So... I guess you could say by extension that I'm here for your sake. " He said, eye crinkled again.

Sasuke scoffed and walked off into the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water and began to drink as Kakashi took a seat.

"Being a former medical Ninja, the Hokage likes to have regular medical exams on all post-academy ninjas. Just to make sure that everything is 100%. It's supposed to help the progression of long-term injuries and what-not..." Sasuke drained the glass and narrowed his eyes at Kakashi.

"And... Of course since you haven't been around in a while, your overdue."

Sasuke stared at him.

"Not Interested."

Kakashi grinned back at him as he said, "Oh, my mistake. I was under the impression that you _wanted_ to be able to train again. Oh well..." He let out a dramatic sigh and shrugged. Sasuke turned and set his glass in the sink.

"Tsk. Whatever, lets just go." He said as he walked towards the door.

Kakashi tried not to laugh.

_Tried._

* * *

Two hours later, after being left by Kakashi with some random old male medic-nin and being subjected to a more-than-too-thorough exam, Sasuke tried to make his way back to the entrance to the hospital. He had told Kakashi to meet him there so he could take him to see Tsunade and talk about his training. He walked down the disinfected halls of the hospital, crowded with Nurses and doctors all bustling around doing different things. The memories of the last time he was here started to come to him. His fight with Naruto on the roof, Sakura running in the way, Kakashi intervening at the last second... He grimaced at the thoughts, they happened so long ago but he could still remember the anger he felt.

Sasuke brought himself back to the real world long enough to realize that he had taken a wrong turn somewhere and gotten himself lost. He quickly turned around and tried getting back on track, but only managed to make himself more lost. Not wanting to stop and ask directions, Sasuke started seething, but managed to stay focused as he continued to wander around in hopes that something would start to look familiar. '_Stupid hospital... why does everything look the same?_' He thought to himself.

He had finally made it back to the nurse's station when he heard a familiar voice come from behind him.

"Sasuke?" He turned to see Sakura just coming out of a locker room with a nurse's uniform draped over her arm, her pink hair still slightly wet from her recent shower.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke said stiffly, as he tried to stifle his frustration from being lost. Sakura raised an eyebrow at him.

"_I_ just got off work. Better question-Why are you here?" She walked over behind the nurse's station and threw her uniform in the dirty laundry hamper. She picked up a folder and started flicking through it as she waited for her answer. Sasuke was taken aback by her tone of voice.

"Exam." He said in his usual monotone.

"Okay... Why are you still here? Are you waiting for someone?" She asked slightly confused and annoyed by his presence. Sakura was quickly becoming agitated by his too-short and not very detailed answers. _'Of course, the one person I don't want to run into, Tsunade sends him for an exam..._' She thought to herself.

"Kakashi. I'm meeting him by the entrance." Sasuke said quickly, wanting just to be out of there.

"So you're... lost?" She asked tentatively.

Sasuke bristled. "I am-!"

"!" A young nurse came running up, interrupting Sasuke. Sakura turned to look at her.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, but we have a patient in room 204 here who needs to be seen right away." The nurse said holding out the patient's file to Sakura.

"Oh, I'm just leaving for the day. Isn't here yet?" She said hopefully.

"No he hasn't arrived yet." Sakura sighed as she took the file from the nurse's hands and flicked through it. She looked back over at Sasuke.

"I can take you to the entrance, but it'll be a second." Sakura said half-heartedly, slightly hoping that he wouldn't take her offer.

"Tsk, whatever." Sasuke said, and she rolled her eyes.

"Ok, follow me."

They walked down the hall a ways as the young nurse started giving Sakura some information about the patient. Sasuke followed behind them slightly more annoyed that they would get there; he would have to wait while Sakura checked the guy, and then they'd have to wait for whatever doctor would come to treat him. When all Sasuke wanted was to link back up with Kakashi so he could go to Tsunade and she could tell him he could start training again.

"They had to sedate him as they brought him over here but he's waking now. The medicine they had on the mission was old and it's spurring on the infection from his wounds." The nurse explained. "The rest is just a few broken bones that need to be checked on their healing..." She pushed open the door to reveal a shinobi in his late twenties lying on the bed. His clothes were bloody and torn from his mission.

"Just stay here... by the door..." Sakura said to Sasuke as she walked over with scissors and began to clear away the remains of the man's shirt. The nurse took away the broken glasses and his headband and placed them on the bedside table. Sasuke took another look at the man and recognized him as the Jonin who was in charge of the Genin team with that little brat who used to chase Naruto around. Konomaru? Kohomoru? He had no clue, nor did he really care.

Sasuke leaned against the door frame and crossed his arms over him chest, as Sasuke began listing off different medicines for the nurse to go retrieve.

"How long before the doctor gets here?" He said, but Sakura ignored him. She pulled her hair back into a low ponytail and tossed her black gloved on the bedside table. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and placed her right hand over the man's forehead. Sasuke watched as her hand began to glow, and the man began to stir.

"Ebisu-sensei? Can you hear me?" She said, and the man groaned and tried to sit up, before crying out in pain and lying back down. He opened his eyes and squinted in the bright hospital lights at Sakura.

"What...Happened?" He said groggily. Sakura flipped open his file.

"According to your teammates you were rendered unconscious during a fight with some rogue ninja and thrown into a gorge." She said as she went to work healing several of his larger cuts and bruises. Sasuke watched slightly impressed as her glowing hands made them disappear and sweat formed on her brow. Once she was done there, she began checking his recently broken bones which had already started the healing process.

"Alright Ebisu, your ribs look like they'll heal just fine with some rest... But your wrist on the other hand needs a little more attention." She nodded to the nurse who quickly added more morphine to the patient's IV. Sakura wiped her forehead and turned to look at Sasuke for the first time since she started she walked past him and he followed her just outside the door.

"It'll be just a few more minutes, but you should probably wait outside if you still need me to show you where the entrance is." She whispered.

"What's wrong with his wrist?"

Sakura let out a sigh and rubbed her eyes as she answered him, "It's setting wrong, and it needs to be re-broken so it can heal properly."

"... Why do we need to wait for the doctor?" he said slightly confused. Sakura's face flushed with anger at his unwillingness to accept her medical abilities.

"We don't need to wait! I'm standing right here!" She stormed back into the hospital room leaving Sasuke standing out in the hall.

_So Sakura is a medic now... _He thought, sitting on the floor with his back against the cool white wall._ I guess it doesn't surprise me, she was always the best at chakra control. Naruto did mention that she was studying under the Hokage, I just didn't think- _His thoughts were interrupted by the screams coming from the room Sakura had just disappeared into. Sasuke quickly decided that he'd rather break 10 bones in battle then to have 1 re-broken for medicinal purposes.

A few moments later, Sakura emerged from the room carrying a file and looking completely normal. She didn't acknowledge Sasuke as she dropped the file at the Nurse's station and ran her fingers through her hair. He walked up to her, she gave him a slightly cocky smile.

"You look a little pale."

"Hn." She gave a small, disbelieving laugh and shook her head at him slightly.

"Ok then, the entrance isn't to far from here. Let's go." She said and together they started walking.

A few minutes later, they were standing at the entrance to the hospital with Kakashi Hatake.

"You're late, Sasuke." Kakashi said as they walked outside, he smiled down at Sakura. "Ah Sakura, I hope he wasn't too much trouble for you." He said to her with the air of a parent thanking the babysitter. Sasuke's temper simmered.

"Not really. Just try to stay out of the hospital, Sasuke, especially if you don't know where your _going_." She said as she turned back to Kakashi and Sasuke scoffed. "Ebisu was admitted a little while ago. He was injured on a mission and he'll be fine- but I thought you should know he'll be in there for about a week recovering, you might want to visit him."

Kakashi's eye crinkled again. "Thanks, I will."

"Oh! Kakashi-sensei I wanted to know if _you_ and _Naruto_-" Sasuke didn't miss how she stressed their names with such specific effort "-still wanted to meet up for some training tonight."

"Yeah, I think that I'll be able to make it."

"Good, I'll call Naruto and remind him, he'll be really excited. It's been so long since we got together." Sakura said smiling. Sasuke was feeling more and more out of the loop and angry as they both continued to deliberately ignore him. Really, he was _right there_!

"Yes it has." Kakashi said, turning back to Sasuke who just scowled at him. "Well Sasuke, we don't want to keep the Hokage waiting any longer do we? So why don't you thank Sakura for her help today and we'll be on our way."

Sakura looked up and made eye contact with Sasuke briefly before looking down at the ground. Sasuke took a step towards her, not looking away from her face.

"Thank-"

"Save it." She said abruptly cutting him off and turning away. "I have to get home, See you later Kakashi-sensei."

* * *

Tsunade looked over Sasuke's file with mild interest as he and Kakashi stood in the middle of her office, waiting for a verdict. "Well, your range-of-motion is perfect. You aren't taking any drugs that we detect, and we would detect them..." She said going down the list. Sasuke rolled his eyes, and Kakashi buried his nose in one of his Make-out Paradise books. "Your hearing and your eye sight are fine... Yep... Yep... Blood pressure regular..." Tsunade smiled inwardly, wondering how much longer she could drag this out until the boy's nerves snapped. "Digestive functions normal... You don't have any STDs..."

"So can I train or not?" Sasuke said finally, doing his best to keep his anger and annoyance out of his tone as he spoke.

"Hmmmm..." Tsunade put down the file and looked at him, reeeaaalllyy looked at him head to toe. Tsunade, like everyone else, had of course heard the stories of what had happened to the Uchihas. Tsunade and Sasuke had never actually met before he left the village, and she had only seen pictures and heard from others what he was actually like. She wasn't exactly taking to his impatience and his attitude, but she also knew that these are traits he's had since he was a gennin.

Tsunade studied his face for a moment. She could see the years of being a ninja already wearing on him and the hurt (still) from the loss of him family in his eyes. She could also see his ambition and silent determination to make things right (although she was DAMN sure he'd never admit it).

"Alright." She said, resting her head on her folded hands as she leaned forward on her desk. "But there is one more thing..."

Sasuke rolled his eyes again and groaned inwardly. _Seriously? What else could she want?_

"I'll be putting you back in with your old team, which is now known as Team Kakashi. But before you all can get going, I'm going to see how you all work together..." She said, as she gave him a sinister smile.

* * *

DUNDUNDUN! (lol)

okayokayokay... I'll say it again for those who missed it in the last chapters...

I'M SORRRYYYYYYY!1

I know i'm late again, i'm sorry! Buuuuuut I've been busy and sick. :P

NOT FUN. But hey! I had my birthday! :D YupYup! I can finally go get married to Matthew McConaughey now that i'm finally 18... MmmmmmmMMMMmm... Lmao

But enough about me! Sorry about the length of this chapter! I got into a small tiff with my boyfriend tonight so I decided to write to take my mind off it, and now it's 2am and i'm tired, but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging any longer! So I was like what the hell! :D

But I still hope you guys like it! And on another note! I've recently had some new readers leaving me some great comments/feedback and all that and I wanted to let you guys know that that means soo much! *hugs* :D Love you guys! Keep reading!

:D Monty712


	6. I Will Survive

Chapter 6: I Will Survive

Hello again everybody!Now, dont kill me, i do realise that it's been an EXTERMELY long time since i've added another chapter to this story and i'm terribly sorry about that. I'd like to make up some fantastic excuses for you, but the fact of the matter is that this story is really just something i do with the very rarest of free time that i have. Just after boyfriend, friends, family,TV, sleep, and dog. I just haven't had any time lately, im doing the whole college thing you know? And as it turns out, writing gets a little less fun when you are constantly writing huge papers for english classes. But i just bought a laptop and i want to break in my super-awesome keyboard! 3 But enough about me! HOW ARE YOU PEOPLE? I hope that every single one of you is doing fantastically! And i know this chapter is short, but i have like 98% of the next chapter all worked out in my head, so when i get some free-time next i'll type it all up and get it on here for you (hopefully soon, no promises)! Love ya! :)

"I Will Survive" By. Cake (Not originally i know, but this version is pretty sweet :)

Please feel free to leave a review! :) 3

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CHAPTER 6: I Will Survive

"Thanks for joining us, Kakashi." Tsunade said as he appeared through the trees at the edge of the clearing, a good 15 minutes late.

His eye crinkled as he raised his hand in greeting to the group before him.

"Well, I was helping an older lady carry her shopping bags home." He scratched the back of his head.

"You're such a liar!" Naruto said jumping up from the ground where he was sitting cross-legged, anxiously waiting.

Sakura sighed inwardly. What was supposed to be just another fun, if not easy training session with Naruto and Kakashi had turned out to be a nightmare. She glanced out of the corner of her eye at the cause of her current problem; Sasuke Uchiha. As she watched him moving things around in his holster, his eyes moved to meet hers, and she quickly adverted them to watch Naruto berating Kakashi for his tardiness.

Sakura rolled her eyes at nothing in particular; it's not like she didn't see this coming. First he shows up in the Hokage's office, then again at the hospital… Why shouldn't he show up here too?

The appearing act was getting old for Sakura. It was enough that he left, but now he shows up again and everyone expects things to be okay and normal? She had half a mind to go home.

But she couldn't do it, she couldn't bring herself to disappoint Naruto now, not when he was quite literally bouncing up and down in excitement at the old squad 7 being back together again.

But apparently the joyous reunion was to be put to the test before things could really go back to normal. Sakura should have suspected something like this from Tsunade when she arrived with Shizune and Ton Ton in tow.

Just as expected, Tsunade cleared her throat and addressed Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke.

"Alright kiddies," Naruto started to protest, but Kakashi put up his hand to quiet him, "this is what's going to happen. Behind me is the gate to the 23rd training ground. It's like the Forest of Death you used in your first chunin exams but it's smaller and set up a little differently to meet our _particular _needs."

"'Needs?' What are you talking about?" Naruto squinted in confusion.

"Well, even though it's been a while since you all trained together, i do fully intend on restoring the former Squad 7, as the new Team Kakashi."

Sakura's stomach knotted, Naruto let out an enthusiastic "ALL RIGHT!" and thrusted his fist into the air, and Sasuke made a small 'tsk, Loser'. Naruto gave Sakura a huge smile and said, "This is so awesome!" Sakura returned his enthusiasm with a smaller smile and a "Yeah..." But she felt like she was going to be sick.

"However, there is a small catch." Tsunade said, breaking up Naruto's sudden fit of joy. "The most important part of being a Leaf ninja continues to be teamwork. But surely you all remember that from your training with Kakashi"

Kakashi's eye crinkled. "Well, they should. But that concept was easier for some to fully... understand. My mind faintly recalls something about boxed lunches..."

Naruto crossed his arms over his chest. "That was a long time ago, Sensei! I've definitely changed since then!" Kakashi smirked under his mask.

"Well, we'll see soon enough."

"That's why I have decided to test your skills before we start sending your squad out on missions. I figured that the best way to judge how well your team works together is by playing a little game." Tsunade nodded to Shizune, who held a large scroll of paper, which turned out to be a map of the forest.

"Now, I'm sure you all know the game Capture the Flag, right?" Heads nodded around the circle formed around the map. "Well this exercise is going to be kind of like that. 50 meters inside of these gates behind me is a small clearing with three flags in holders on wooden posts. There is one pink flag for Sakura, one blue for Sasuke, and one orange for you, Naruto." She pointed to a small clearing surrounded by nothing but trees indicated on the map. "There are also three yellow flags posted at different locations within the forest. One here," She pointed to one particularly rocky clearing on the map to the north-west of the first clearing, "Here," she indicated one small island surrounded by water to the far east of the clearing, "And one here." She finished, pointing to a bridge at the far end (north) of the arena suspended over a river. "I suggest you take a good look at this map, because it's the last time you're going to see it." The ninja of Squad 7 studied the map carefully for a good minute.

"Now, Team Kakashi." The three in question looked up at Tsunade as Shizune rolled up the map again. "In just a few minutes, I'm going to signal you to enter these gates. Once inside, you will first enter the clearing with your three individual flags and take the one designated for you. Your objective is to then capture the three yellow flags and return them to the first clearing and place them in the three holders that you retrieved your own flags from. Is that clear?"

Sakura nodded and Sasuke gave a small "Hn"of understanding. They stood there for a moment, and then they both looked sideways at Naruto who had a confused look on his face again.

"Naruto! Do you get it or not?" Tsunade barked at him.

"Uhhh... So we just go in, get our flags. Then go get the other yellow flags and bring them back to the first clearing?" Tsunade nodded impatiently, and Kakashi sighed. "That doesn't sound too hard." He said cracking his knuckles and putting on a huge grin. "We'll have this done in no time, heh."

Tsunade smiled as well, "Ahh you think so, huh? Well I'm not done explaining." Just then, two people appeared in clouds of smoke next to Tsunade. As the smoke cleared, it revealed ex-team captain, Yamato, and Iruka Umino. "Perfect timing gentlemen, thank you for coming." Tsunade said brightly at their arrival before turning back to the others. "Playing against you in this little game, will be another team of three, made up of none other than Kakashi, Yamato, and Iruka. It will be there job to guard the three yellow flags... As well as do their best to capture your three colored flags and return them to the first clearing as well."

'_Okayy... Not so easy._' Sakura thought to herself as she listened to this latest development. Two jounin and a chunin, all more experienced, versus three chunin who haven't even trained together in over 2 and a half years? It barely seemed fair. '_But then again it is just a game...'_

Shizune finished tying a string around the rolled up map and said, "However, to make things a bit more even. The yellow flags can only be moved by members of Team Kakashi. That includes even if they are taken from their original posts and dropped or abandoned. But the blue, orange, and pink flags are all fair game."

Sakura noticed a flaw in the system and said, "But in the first clearing, there are only three flag holders. How does that work if we are all trying to get six flags into three holders?" Tsunade smiled.

"That's simple. The game is over when all three holders are filled. Or if one team gets two of the opposing team's flags into the holders before the other team. It's basically the best two out of three. Okay, does everyone get it?"

Nods and words of agreement were shared around the two groups as they gathered across from each other in front of the gates. Kakashi, Yamato, and Iruka would go first once Tsunade gave them the signal, and then Team Kakashi would be sent in 3 minutes after. Tsunade walked up to the gates and opened them up all the way, and Ton Ton snorted excitedly.

"All right, Shizune and I will be monitoring the game and making sure everybody plays fairly." She started fiddling with a stop watch. Iruka smiled at the three.

"Even though we'll also be playing, we too will be watching a judging how well you perform today." Iruka said in his usual teacher-like tone.

Kakashi smiled over at them, "So Naruto, try not to blow it."

Sakura glanced over at Naruto who had taken an excited step forward, "What do you mean? I'm not going to blow it, Sensei! I've been waiting ages to take you on again!"

Kakashi's eye crinkled in a smile under the mask. "Ahh but i really wonder if you're actually up to the challenge. It was just a fluke that you actually bested me in the bell training..."

"It wasn't a fluke! Come on! I'll show you right now that i can take you!" He boasted.

"Well, you can try. That is, IF you can catch me." Kakashi smirked, Naruto's eyes filled with the fire of a challenge.

"Oh just you wait, Sensei!"

Tsunade gave the signal to the first group. "Ready… GO!"

She turned to the remaining three. "Okay, three minutes and I'll give you your signal."

Naruto continued to jump up and down in impatience, "Yeah all right! I'm coming for you first Kakashi-sensei!"He called into the trees after them. Sasuke turned on him.

"You loser, your just falling for his bait. There's no way you'll take his flag by yourself."

"Say what? In case you haven't noticed Sasuke, I'm waaaaay stronger than before, you'll see. I'll take his flag and the others no sweat!"

"Don't get cocky, you'll just wind up losing your own flag in the process, and that would screw us all up. Just like you always did."

"Two minutes…"Tsunade said, watching her stopwatch carefully.

"You bastard! Who died and made you the leader?"Naruto made a grab for him but Sakura stepped forward.

"Knock it off you two! We have more important things to worry about here. We can't just run in there blind, we'll need a strategy if we're gonna get those yellow flags."Naruto and Sasuke glared daggers at each other.

"One minute, thirty seconds. Oh and there's something I forgot to mention to you before you go."Tsunade said, breaking up Sasuke and Naruto's little glaring contest. "I had said that I wanted to make sure your team had what it takes to get back to doing missions. However, if I don't find that you all are 100% capable of doing the things that I need you to do… then I'm demoting you all to Gennin. That means no missions above D-ranks, and also with weekly tests back at the academy to re-teach those fundamental things you are incapable of doing until I deem you ready to return to your rightful ranks."

There was a second of silence, then they all erupted at the same time.

"WHAATT? YOU CAN'T DO THAT!""My Lady! You've gotta be kidding!" "Tsk, annoying."

"I can and I WILL if I don't think you're ready to handle the missions I plan on assigning you." Ton Ton squeaked softly, as Tsunade took a deep breath and checked her watch again. "But that's just something for you to think about while you go after the flags in there. Squad 7 ready? GO!"

And they took off into the arena.

* * *

Dundundun...

Okay i know it seems right now that this story is a little devoid of any sasusaku interaction... but trust me i have BIG PLANS for this story... So please stick with it. Next chapter is gonna have a little more... interaction... if you catch my drift ;) haha (calm down pervs!lol jkjk)

But i hope that gave you a little taste of whats about to happen! I have a lot of what is going on in the next chapter all ready to go in my head, but i just have to actually type it all up... and thats a bit of a challenge because i have to find time. But i'll get it on here soon i think, i wanted to keep going but its like 4:15 in the morning right now and i worked a full shift tonight. UGH. haha, well i hope you all enjoyed, please send me a review letting me know what you think. If you hated it, i dont really care just bug off then! But to everybody else who's sticking with me... 3 You're awesome!

xoxoxo,

Monty4721


	7. WHAT THE HELL

I'm baaaaAAaaaaccckk :)

Hello again everybody! I'm so sorry it's been so long! I've had this chapter half finished for a while now but i've had so much going on and so much to do that i haven't had any time/inspiration to finish it! But I have found recently that I have a little more time than usual (school (even thought i've been on break since may 5th) is out, vacation is over, and my boyfriend is out of town :\ ). So i've been writing a bunch this week and hopefully next week, now that i have a few more ideas.

The song for today is "What the Hell?" By Avril Lavigne (Because contrary to popular thought i really liked this CD and when i started writing this chapter i had just bought it and I was all excited and what not so yeah. Even thought it's overplayed now, i dont ever listen to the radio so i kept it as the title:))

Let me know what you think of this chapter! Enjoy!

Review puuurrrreeeeeze! :) (reviews make me smile and want to continue writing this story! *HINT* lol)

* * *

CHAPTER 7: WHAT THE HELL?

Sasuke and Sakura were falling behind.

"Slow down, idiot, this isn't a race." Sasuke called after Naruto as he and Sakura followed him through to the first clearing. Against Sasuke's words, Naruto pumped even more of his chakra into his feet, making him go even faster. He burst into the clearing just ahead of the other two. In the center of the clearing were three large wooden hitting posts, much like the ones on the training grounds. However, coming out of the top of these posts were three long flagpoles each with a different color flag clipped to a loop at the end. Naruto had already hastily started unclipping his orange flag from the center post when Sakura and Sasuke entered the field. Sakura frowned at Naruto.

"Naruto, you need to calm down. If you keep exerting your chakra needlessly like that before we have a plan, then you're going to exhaust yourself before we even find a yellow flag." She unclipped her pink flag and tied it at her waist, same as Naruto.

"Oh I'll get a flag all right…" He smirked as he turned to the others, "Kakashi-sensei's. If he thinks it's a fluke that we got the bells from him last time, I'm gonna show him he's wrong! Grrrr… There's no way I'll give him even a second to read that stupid book! I'm going for it!" And with that, the yellow-haired ninja dashed off into the woods. Sakura groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"That idiot." Sasuke scoffed in annoyance. He turned to look at Sakura, who glanced at him hesitantly; it was still weird being alone together.

"I guess that means I go after him." Sasuke said as he clipped his own flag to his waist.

"What?" Sakura said looking up at him, confused.

"It's going to take both of us to get those flags, and that can't happen when he's acting like this." He checked to make sure his flag was secure.

"Okay, then we better get moving."

Sasuke looked up at her, "What?"

"Sasuke, I know you've been gone for a while but you have to remember that Naruto is pretty fast. If we have any chance of catching him befo-"

"No."

Sakura looked over at him again, but Sasuke didn't meet her gaze.

"'No' what?" She said.

"You'll stay here." He said, looking up at her, his expression unreadable. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Why?"

Sasuke sighed in impatience, "Naruto and I will handle getting the flags, and you will stay here in the event that one of our flags is captured and brought back here."

"… Excuse me?"

"It's important that we keep as many of our flags out of the way as possible. If we only make two flags available to them-"

"So basically you're just saying that you want me out of the way, because you don't think I can protect my flag… or myself." She interrupted, irritated at his thick-headedness.

Sasuke stayed silent as his eyes moved to meet hers, his face expressionless. Anger started to burn Sakura's stomach, just as embarrasses tears stung her eyes. She blinked them away quickly before squaring her shoulders and taking a step toward him.

They faced off for a moment, before Sakura broke the silence.

"You were there, you saw me at the hospital. I'm stronger than I was before!"

Sasuke just stared at her, sizing her up for a second. It was true that he noticed she had picked up a few tricks while he was away, but he still wasn't convinced that the same sniveling pink haired little girl he knew was suddenly able to hold her own.

"That's not the point."

"Then what _is_ your point, Sasuke?" She crossed her arms.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her, after working with submissive girls like Karin; he wasn't used to such insubordination. But things were different now; he was back in the Leaf now. His mind briefly returned back to Tsunade's parting words to him on his first day back in the village, and her stressing the importance of earning back his teammate's trust. So he decided against telling her exactly what he was thinking.

"I don't need to explain myself to you."

"Fine… But I'm still coming with you."

"Tsk, this is getting us nowhere." He turned away from her towards the trees where Naruto left. "I'm going, and you _will_ stay here." He finalized.

The finality in his voice brought her back to a previous time were their discussion ended with her being left behind: When Sasuke left the village. She stared at the ground as his words washed over the both of them, just like last time. Sasuke turned back to her, his face still expressionless.

Mentally, Sakura kicked herself for allowing her to be so effected by this statement. '_He's back, and even thought my outlook on him is changed, he is still unable to see me as anything more than a weak little crybaby… And maybe I am._' She thought to herself, '_All I've done since he got back is ignoring him for the sake of me. And, when I'm not ignoring him, I'm just being stubborn.._.'

"Sakura…" He said, and Sakura thought she might have heard a pinch of regret in his tone, but she brushed away the thought as wishful thinking; and then she mentally kicked herself again for thinking that it could have been wishful thinking. She was so confused… Sakura held up her hand to him as a kind of surrender.

"You know what? You're absolutely right." She said, smiling up at him embarrassed. "It's okay. I'll keep things under control here until you two get back with those flags!"

Sasuke peered at her, apprehensive at her sudden mood change, but thought better of it. 'That's more like the Sakura I knew.' He thought to himself. 'Her looks might have changed a bit, but she still acts the same as she used to as far as I can tell…'

"Okay," He said," I'll meet up with that idiot and then we'll scope out the area and get a flag if we can. When night falls, we'll regroup back here."

"Okay, good luck!" Sakura smiled and waved as Sasuke left with a slight nod and a brief "Hn". As soon as he was gone, Sakura's hand fell down at her side.

'_I'm going, and you _will_ stay here.'_

Her fake smile turned into a sneaky smirk, and she started to make some hand signs._ 'Sorry Sasuke, but I'm done spending my time on this team playing defense.'_ She thought as she bit into her right thumb.

"Summoning jutsu!" Sakura stood up straight and smiled wide to herself. _'If you won't listen when I tell you that I'm capable of handling myself, then I guess I'm just going to have to show you_.' When the smoke cleared, it revealed a giant slug about half of her size.

"Lady Sakura…" It said in a female's voice. "How may I help you?"

"Chiyoko thank you for coming." Sakura said with a small bow. "I need your help with watching the perimeter of this clearing." She waved around her. "But I need you to not be seen by anyone."

The slug nodded, "Certainly. I will divide into many smaller versions of myself, and watch from the surrounding foliage. I will also accompany you, so you will know if there are any trespassers."

"Thank you so much, Chiyoko." The slug suddenly melted into hundreds of smaller slugs that shrank away out of the clearing. Sakura bent down to pick up a small slug, about the length of her palm, and allowed it to crawl up her arm and hide just inside her right sleeve.

A few moments later, the small slug poked its head out of her collar. "Alright, Miss Sakura, I am stationed all over the parameter of the clearing, as well as inside of it for full protection."

"Thank you. Please inform me if anyone at all gets even close to the clearing, okay?"

"Hai."

Sakura smiled to herself, she knew that she had changed since the time when Sasuke left the village. No longer was she the weak crybaby who depended on and chased after him. It was just time to show them all that.

She took off after the others.

* * *

Yamato finished brushing surrounding dirt over the last trap he set and stood up, wiped his hands on his pants and took a step back. Careful not to leave any footprints, he circled the now concealed trap, observing it from all angles to make sure it was not visible.

'_Perfect_…' He thought. But of course it was: He'd spent too many years with the ANBU black ops to be able to set traps as anything less. He sighed and jumped up into the tree along the side of the path to the bridge he was guarding, stopping once he was just high enough not to be spotted but still low enough to have an optimal view of the bridge.

The yellow flag he was guarding was posted on silver pole out directly in the middle of the steel-framed wooden-planked bridge. Beneath it about 60 feet was the small river that ran through the arena, and on the other side of the bridge was a small clearing and an overgrown path that led to another gate (closed off for the test, of course).

Yamato waited on his branch, overlooking the path below him, the surrounding foliage, and the flag for the up side of 15 minutes before he finally started to get bored. With the advice Kakashi gave him earlier about Naruto being so quick about coming after him during the first two tests, he had rushed to his flag and set things up as quickly as possible.

'_Though, this is the farthest flag from the clearing. Logically they would go after the other flags first, them being closer, making it easier for them to make it back to the clearing with_.' He leaned back against the trunk of the tree. _'Kakashi has such little faith, there's no way Naruto could be so stupi—_' Just as the thought came to a close, Yamato heard the unmistakable tread of footprints.

Sure enough, the sounds of a familiar ninja made themselves. Yamato made a few hand signs and his body became invisible against the bark of the tree.

"Argh, Granny-Tsunade must have been wrong about this place! It's waaayy bigger than she made it look on that map. I've been walking around for at least a half hour and I haven't seen anybody, let alone any flags." Naruto crossed his arms and sighed, but he kept walking. "Maybe I should have studied that stupid map better…"

Yamato watched silently as Naruto made his way up the path, he was sure this was just a diversion. He couldn't sense the chakra of anyone else but Naruto, but he was sure that Sasuke and/or Sakura was waiting nearby. Yamato stayed hidden, but followed Naruto's progress toward the flag.

As he walked in a huff, the path suddenly began to open up before him, and before he knew it, Naruto had spotted the clearing. He blinked at its brightness, having been walking in the shade of the trees, but once his eyes were able to adjust to the sight of the bridge, he let out a giddy laugh.

"ALLRIGHT! Believe it! I'm gonna be the first one to bring a flag back, and show Sasuke who's really better." He took a few running paces toward the bridge, and stopped suddenly. "Wait just one second…"

Yamato froze. Did he sense his presence?

"Nope! Haha stupid Sensei's, I must have just beat them here too! Why else would they leave a flag unguarded?"

Yamato sweat-dropped. _'Well, he was never very good with his chakra… Unless he was attacking something…'_

Naruto began to run towards the clearing, but before he could make it he was suddenly hoisted into the air upside-down, hanging from a branch by his ankles. "AHHH!"

Yamato waited for one of Naruto's teammates to come let him down, Naruto continued to swing back in forth in shock.

"Wha-What the HELL?" He yelled in surprise. "Someone get me down from here!"

Yamato watched Naruto struggle for a moment, anxious for the arrival of Naruto's backup. But when no one came to aid him, Yamato was even more surprised at his student's incompetence. He made a few hand signs, and just as Naruto reached up with a kunai to cut the ropes that bound him, tree roots shot out of the ground and attached themselves to his wrists, pulling them back downward so he was suspended upside-down once more.

"HEY! LET ME GO!"

Yamato dropped down from the tree about him and made himself visible, standing in front of the now secure Naruto.

"Captain Yamato!"

"Come on, Naruto. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt when Kakashi told me you were gullible, but really. To be caught so easily…" The Naruto before him gave a laugh and burst into smoke. "What? A shadow clone?"

Suddenly, two Narutos descended from the trees above him, bringing a net down on Yamato out of noware and pulling him to the ground.

"Gotcha!" One of the Naruto-clones shouted in triumph, high-fiving the other. The secured the net over Yamato with kunai knives and stepped back.

"What was that about being caught so easily?" The clones laughed together, as the real Naruto walked out into the clearing. "I'll be the first to bring back a flag! Me! Naruto Uzumaki! Future Hokage of the Leaf Village!" He shouted as he ran for the bridge, laughing as his feet pounded on the boards.

Naruto made a reach for the flag, but just as his fingers grazed it's cloth, his feet were yanked out from under him yet again.

"AHHHH!"

As he hit the ground, the boards dragged him over the side of the bridge and finally left him to dangle upside-down under the bridge. The Naruto-clones turned to watch as the Yamato under the net collapsed into mud. The real Yamato stepped down from the branches of a tree nearby as his camouflage jutsu wore off.

"A clone?" One of them managed to say before bursting into smoke with it's clone counterparts.

"Well," Yamato said as he clapped his hands together, "That was fun."

He walked quickly over to the edge of the cliff and called down to his captive student.

"Hey Naruto, how's it hanging?" The blonde let out a wail of fear in response, obviously not enjoying his time staring up at the river below him. Yamato chuckled and preformed a few more hand signs, allowing himself to be carried down underneath the bridge to Naruto's level.

Once he was close enough, Yamato took the liberty of detaching Naruto's flag from his belt and attaching it to his own.

"Thanks." Yamato said with a smile, Naruto growled at him.

"Give it back!" He shouted up at Yamato. "This isn't over!"

Yamato lowered the branch so their faces were level. "Oh? And when will Sasuke and Sakura be here to help you?"

Naruto crossed his arms and begrudgingly looked away from him like a child.

"Not going to tell, huh? Okay then, later."

Naruto watched disbelievingly as Yamato brought himself back up to safety.

"Y-You're not going to let me up?" Yamato laughed at his words.

"Naruto, if I let you up you'd try and take my flag. Besides, your teammates will probably be along to help you soon, right? That is: Assuming that you told them where you're going, and you didn't go off by yourself." Yamato took one last look over the edge at the freaking-out ninja hanging below the bridge with no way up. "Because if that does happen to be the case…" He gave Naruto his famous scary-face. "You deserve this punishment for your arrogance."

With that, Yamato turned and took off into the forest, leaving the young blonde suspended under the bridge alone to yell for his teammates.

* * *

Yayyy!

Now that that's over, i hope you all enjoyed this chapter! What do you think Sasuke's gonna do when he finds out Sakura isnt at the clearing? How long do you think Naruto is going to be stuck under the bridge? Will Yamato make it back with Naruto's flag?

You know the drill! Leave a comment and i'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can!

xoxo Monty712 :D


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